Airmen and their families gathered at Shaw's airfield to welcome, for the first time, an aircraft that Shaw pilots and sensor operators fly every day.
Yes, many Shaw airmen operate the MQ-9 Reaper every day, but rarely do they see it in person, and never have their families seen the aircraft their loved ones fly every day.
That's because the MQ-9 is flown remotely. There's no cockpit.
"We have within the 25th Attack Group three attack squadrons here that fly MQ-9s 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year all throughout the world flying combat missions," 25th Attack Group Commander Col. Trevor "Phantom" Merrell said. "But this is a first opportunity to get the MQ-9 here."
The aircraft's landing at Sumter's Shaw Air Force Base is thanks to a new capability called satellite launch and recovery that allows MQ-9s to be much more agile than previously, according to Merrell.
The aircraft, which looks similar to a more traditional one that would have a cockpit for the pilot, is assigned to the 163rd Attack Wing at California's March Air Reserve Base but is piloted by airmen from the 25th Attack Group at Shaw. It landed on Shaw's airfield on Wednesday morning after having flown overnight from California, and it left Wednesday night.
It came to Sumter not only for training, but also as a morale booster for the airmen who make its flight possible yet rarely see the aircraft.
50th Attack Squadron MQ-9 Pilot Capt. Ryan Beach said that his job can be hard to explain to others and that having his wife be able to come on base and see the drone her husband operates every day is special.
"It's cool to have the families come out and the airmen just to get a little appreciation and realize what we're responsible for every day," he said.
The MQ-9 Reaper's purpose is intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, close air support, combat search and rescue, precision strike and more, according to a release from the 20th Fighter Wing.
"We're unique," Beach said. "We can fly airborne for 21 hours at a time. Not many planes in the Air Force fleet can do that. It's important for people to understand that every action this plane takes is human-driven. Every turn, every climb, every descent, every airspeed change. There's a human on the other side with the controls."
Operating an MQ-9 is a two-person job.
50th Attack Squadron Sensor Operator Senior Airman Zachery Cherry is not exactly a co-pilot, he said, but he works closely with the MQ-9 pilots.
"I'm in control of the payload and the cameras and the other pods that we use on the aircraft to collect the information," he said. "So our biggest thing is the camera. We have a pretty remarkable camera on the MQ-9, and that's just what allows us to get our full-motion video of any targets or any mission sets that we're currently flying."
These drones are packed with high-end technology including multiple kinds of cameras, including an infrared camera, according to Cherry.
"I have a lot of pride in [being a sensor operator] and it's definitely been something that I've had to take a lot of responsibility in," he said.
Shaw airmen hope to see the MQ-9 Reaper in person again soon.
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